Do substitutes get paid when a job is canceled the morning of? It depends on who canceled, when you were told, and whose rules apply

Sometimes, and no national rule decides it. Federal law does not require pay for a job that is canceled, even if you have already arrived. A few states require a minimum payment when a worker reports and is sent home, but the three we read all carve out some or all government employers, and most substitutes work for a government employer. So the answer comes down to who employs you (the district or a staffing agency), whether you were told before you left or after you arrived, and what your state, your handbook or your agency's policy says.

We read each source below on October 12, 2026. This is not legal advice. It says what the pages say and who decides.

The federal answer: no show-up pay is required

The U.S. Department of Labor covers this in its Hours Worked Advisor. It describes an employee who arrives at the time the employer set and is sent home before doing any work, and says: "The FLSA does not require the employer to consider any of the time as hours worked or to give the employee show-up pay."

The same page names the two places a payment can come from. It says some employers and employees have "informal or contractual agreements (Collective Bargaining Agreements)" that require a set number of hours to be counted, and adds: "Some States also have such a requirement."

That gives you three places to look: your state's rules, any agreement or handbook that covers you, and your employer's own policy.

State reporting pay rules, and who they leave out

These rules go by "reporting time pay," "call-in pay" or "show-up pay." They vary by state, and many states have none. Here are three, with what each says about government employers. None of the three pages mentions substitute teachers or school districts by name.

• California. The Labor Commissioner's reporting time pay page says an employee who is required to report and is not put to work "must be paid for half the usual or scheduled day's work, but in no event for less than two hours nor more than four hours, at his or her regular rate of pay." It lists exceptions, including when the interruption is caused by "an Act of God or other cause not within the employer's control." The same office's exemptions page lists "Employees directly employed by the State or any political subdivision thereof" as exempt from most sections of the wage orders.
• New York. The call-in pay rule says an employee who reports for work at the employer's request or with its permission "shall be paid for at least four hours, or the number of hours in the regularly scheduled shift, whichever is less, at the basic minimum hourly wage." The minimum wage law's definition of "employee" does not include a person employed "by a federal, state or municipal government or political subdivision thereof."
• New Hampshire. RSA 275:43-a requires at least 2 hours of pay at the regular rate when an employee reports to work at the employer's request. It also says "this section shall not apply to employees of counties or municipalities."

Two things stand out. First, these rules turn on reporting. A cancellation you learn about before you leave home is not what they describe. California's page notes one exception to that: it cites a court decision holding that "physical reporting was not required in order to come within the reporting time pay provision."

Second, each state limits who is covered, and the limits point at public employers. Whether a given school district falls inside one of those exclusions is a question for the state labor agency, not for us. A staffing agency is a private employer, so the question can come out differently for an agency sub than for a district sub in the same building.

If you work for a staffing agency

Start with who your employer is. Kelly Education's Handbook Addendum, marked "Revised September 2025," says: "Kelly Services/Kelly Education is your employer of record." It tells employees to take pay questions to the Kelly Education Help Center and not to the school.

On cancellations, the addendum says: "You will be notified of assignment modifications or cancellations via email and online on the scheduling system." It adds that you may get an automated call, and that "You are responsible for ensuring you have updated assignment information."

On pay, the clearest line is about closures. When a school closes or starts late "due to weather or other reasons," Kelly cancels or changes the assignment, and: "You will not be compensated for this time unless required under the law." That last clause is where a state reporting pay rule would come in.

The addendum also describes a four-hour minimum: "Unless otherwise shared, Kelly Education pays one four-hour minimum for positions worked in a day within the same building location." It is written about positions worked. It notes "there are a few districts that do not follow the four-hour minimum structure," and that pay rates are set by the schools and districts. The addendum does not say what is paid when a sub arrives and finds the job canceled.

For ESS, we could not find a published handbook that covers this. One ESS document we could open is a "Substitute How To" guide for its willSub scheduling system. It carries an ESS contact address, has no date, and its screenshots are from 2015 and 2016, so read it as one older regional guide. It says: "ESS can only pay you if the school authorizes the job." On snow days it tells subs to watch local news, "as schools will not pay for travel time on a snow day broadcasted on local news channels and radio stations."

If the district employs you directly

Then the state rules above may not reach you at all, and the answer sits in district documents: the substitute handbook, board policy, or a bargaining agreement if substitutes in your district are covered by one. A district may set a payment for a sub who arrives to a canceled job, or it may set none. We are not naming or quoting any district's rule here, because one district's rule tells you nothing about yours.

The office that decides is the district's HR or substitute office. Ask for the written policy, not a verbal answer.

What to check, and what to keep

• Who canceled. If you canceled, none of this applies. If the school or agency did, keep reading.
• When you were told. Before you left home, or at the front office. The state rules we read are about reporting to work.
• The record. Save the cancellation email and take a screenshot of the job in Frontline showing its status and the time. If you arrived, sign in at the office and note who told you and when.
• Another assignment. If the office offers a different room for the day, that is usually the fastest way to be paid for it. Kelly's addendum says subs may be asked to switch assignments during the day.
• Who to ask. Agency subs ask the agency, in writing. District subs ask HR. For a state rule, ask the state labor agency's wage and hour office whether it covers your employer.

If a booked job vanishes from your schedule without a clear notice, our earlier post covers what it means when a booked job disappears from Frontline.

What we can't tell you

• Your state. We read three. Other states have their own rules or none, and we did not survey all of them.
• Whether a rule covers your district. The exclusions are written in general terms. The state labor agency decides how they apply to a school district or a charter school.
• How often it happens. We have no published figure on how many substitute jobs are canceled the morning of, so we give none.
• ESS's current policy. We found no current ESS handbook on a public page. If you work for ESS, ask for the policy in writing.
• Kelly's local terms. The addendum points to a state pay rate matrix held by the Kelly representative, which we have not seen.

The short version: federal law does not require the pay, a few states do for some employers, and your handbook or agency policy fills in the rest. The written policy is the thing to ask for.

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